Relativistic momentum space wave equations and meson spectroscopy

We examine the applicability of a class of relativistic two-body equations, the quasipotential equations (QPE's), as a tool for investigating hadronic physics. We show that the QPE's traditionally used in nuclear physics may be viewed as special cases of a more general QPE written in terms of three parameters. The behavior of the QPE's is analyzed in terms of these parameters in the small, intermediate, and large coupling regimes, including fits to light and heavy meson spectra. A subset of QPE's is identified which provide fits to the heavy mesons with rms deviations from experiment of 32-36 MeV.